Baroness Scotland of Asthal: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Fiona Mactaggart) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I have today placed before Parliament the Government's response to the joint report of the Home Affairs and Work and Pensions committees on the Government's draft Corporate Manslaughter Bill. This is a key step towards getting a Bill into Parliament and an offence on the statute book.
	The draft Bill set out the Government's proposals for reforming the current law of corporate manslaughter. It would overcome the main obstacle to convictions under the current law by removing the need to attach corporate guilt to the criminal negligence of a single very senior individual within the company. This would allow for companies to be found guilty of manslaughter if grossly negligent management failures led to a death. The draft Bill also took the unprecedented step of extending the offence to Crown bodies, creating a level playing field between the public and private sectors in their liability for manslaughter and ensuring that workers in Crown institutions are protected by the offence.
	The Government are pleased that the committees supported the basic tenets of the draft Bill and the Government's policy in this area: the need for reform, an offence aimed at the most serious failures in management of health and safety, and the lifting of Crown immunity.
	The committees made a number of recommendations that the Government accept would lead to improvements in the Bill, in particular a re-framing of the test for management failure. They also recommended that the Bill should extend to directors whose negligence contributed to the death. The criminal law already covers those who grossly negligently cause death and those who contribute to health and safety breaches. The Government do not believe that that framework should be revisited in this Bill, but they also recognise that a conviction for corporate manslaughter will raise important questions about the overall management of a company and are looking further at the interaction between legislation on disqualification of directors and the new offence.
	The committees welcomed the lifting of Crown immunity. They agreed that some issues should continue to lie outside the offence, such as public policy decisions but they were concerned that other exemptions were too wide. The Government think that they have got the balance right, but we will look again at precisely where the line has been drawn between those pubic functions whose management should be subject to scrutiny in the criminal justice system and those where strategic accountability lies properly though other means.
	The Government believe that the result of pre-legislative scrutiny will be a better Bill before Parliament and are very grateful for the committees' careful but swift scrutiny, which will enable its introduction without delay.

Lord Triesman: In a Written Statement in response to a Question by my honourable friend the Member for Pendle (Mr Gordon Prentice) on 28 November 2005, (Official Report, Commons, col. 165W), my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary (Mr Jack Straw) said that he hoped to make an announcement soon on his examination of the relevant diplomatic service regulations, with a view to making changes to ensure that they more accurately reflect the overall purpose of the regulations and conventions concerning publications by serving and former officials.
	The Foreign Secretary has now approved a revised version of diplomatic service Regulation 5, which governs the use of official information or experience, and associated guidance. The new version brings the regulations into line with the Civil Service Management Code and has been brought to the attention of all FCO staff. The main changes are:
	clarification of the continuing obligation on former officials to obtain permission to write books before entering into commitments with publishers; and to submit texts for clearance;
	an explicit bar on memoirs by serving officials, although they may, with permission, write other books and articles; and
	the additional requirement to avoid writing anything that would damage the confidential relationship between Ministers, or between Ministers and officials.
	In addition, all contracts of employment and letters issued on retirement or resignation now explicitly draw attention to the rules on publication and the duty of confidentiality. This will be systematically redrawn to the attention of staff at key points in their career. Staff are also required to sign an undertaking which states that they have read, understood and agree to be bound by the rules on publication. David Warren, the director of human resources, has already written to all senior FCO officials to explain the revised requirements.
	The regulations will be subject to regular review and revision in line with any future changes to the Civil Service Management Code. The Foreign Secretary will also take into account any relevant recommendations from the Public Administration Select Committee when it reports on the issue.
	I have placed in the Library copies of the new regulations, the guidance and David Warren's letter to all senior staff.

Lord Rooker: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Peter Hain) has made the following Ministerial Statement.
	I am pleased to announce today the formation of the Public Service Commission for Northern Ireland. The Government's decisions on the review of public administration, which were announced on 22 November 2005, will require substantial transfers of staff to new organisations in the health, education and local government fields. I am very conscious of the major implications of these changes for staff working in these areas, including those in central government, and I wish therefore to repeat my earlier commitment that I will seek to avoid compulsory redundancies and to safeguard the interests of staff. I also repeat the commitment that government will work closely with the trade unions representing public service staff.
	In November, I therefore announced my intention to establish a Public Service Commission. The proposed role of the Northern Ireland Public Service Commission will be,
	"to make recommendations to government on the guiding principles and steps necessary to safeguard the interests of staff and to ensure their smooth transfer to new organisations established as a consequence of government decisions on the Review of Public Administration, taking into account statutory obligations, including those arising from section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998".
	The commission will be independent of government. Although it is not a statutory body, I wish to make it clear that the Government attach the highest importance to the commission's role and the significance of its advice and recommendations. In establishing this independent commission, government are wholly committed to the implementation of the recommendations of the commission consistently across the public sector. All government departments and public bodies will be expected to co-operate with the commission in the provision of information and in the implementation of its advice and recommendations as approved by government. In the exceptional event that they could not accept a recommendation, the Government would publicly explain the policy reasons why they felt unable to accept the commission's advice.
	I would expect the commission's advice to me to be in the public domain. In formulating its recommendations, the commission will be expected to develop direct links with employers, existing sectoral commissions and relevant trade unions.
	The membership of the commission draws on the expertise of existing organisations across the various sectors. I am delighted that Sid McDowell has agreed to chair the commission and that the following have agreed to serve:
	
		
			   
			 Sid McDowell Civil service commissioner, ex-chair of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and retired trade union official. 
			 Brian Hanna Chair Local Government Staff Commission and retired local government official. 
			 Professor BernardCullen Chair Education and Library Board Staff Commission and Professor of Philosophy at Queen's University Belfast. 
			 Judith Eve Chief Civil Service Commissioner and retired university academic. 
			 Dr Collim Patton Retired HSS trust chief executive. 
			 Dessie Mitchell Retired local government official and member of review of public administration panel. 
			 Jim McCusker Retired trade union official.